Page 38 of Shifting Desire

“She’s not like us,” he says.“She’s less.You’d burn your kingdom for her?”

“Yes.But I’ll burn you first.”

He lunges and I shift.Not fully but just enough.My hands become claws.My mouth a snarl of flame as my vision sharpens into gold.And then I rip through him like paper.

He doesn’t die easily but he dies.

When he finally falls, broken, burning, and hissing curses in a language too old to name, I turn to her.Her magic is flickering, weakened by the chains holding her captive.

She’s pale with sweat dripping down her temples.Her breathing is shallow and for the first time since Ravic took her I feel panic.I move fast, breaking the chains with a whisper of flame.She collapses into my arms.

“I’m okay,” she says, but her voice wavers.

“You’re not,” I whisper.“But you will be.”

“You saved me,” she says with a lopsided smile.

“I will always come for you, little flame,” I say placing a kiss on her forehead.

“I know,” she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.“I forgive you.”

Magic explodes around us.It slams through both of us like a tidal wave, burning away doubt, guilt, fear.All that’s left is us.

Whole.

Complete.

Mated.

Bound.

She clings to me, head buried in my chest, and I press my lips to her hair.

“You’re mine,” I whisper.“And I’ll never let you go again.”

Chapter Seventeen